Bernardi-Kracoff: Dealing with childhood asthma and diabetes

Asthma and diabetes rank among the most common chronic childhood illnesses in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For each disease there are highly effective prescription medicines and clinical treatments that prevent and reduce symptoms and keep the condition in check.

Asthma and diabetes rank among the most common chronic childhood illnesses in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For each disease there are highly effective prescription medicines and clinical treatments that prevent and reduce symptoms and keep the condition in check.

As well, there are lifestyle choices we can help our children make. In the case of asthma, that means lessening contact with aggravating substances. For type 2 diabetes, the key is preventing the disease from occurring in the first place.

Childhood Asthma

Asthma is a condition that causes airways to constrict. Triggers of asthma symptoms include pet dander, chemicals, dust, mold, pollen, cold air, tobacco, viruses and emotional stress. The American Lung Association states that asthma is one of the most common chronic disorders in childhood, currently affecting an estimated 7.1 million children under 18 years of age. The Association also states that asthma is the third leading cause of hospitalization among children under the age of 15.

Treatment options for asthma include avoiding asthma triggers, long-term medication that keeps asthma under control on a daily basis and quick-relief medications dispensed through oral inhalers. In some severe cases – and this is a relatively new treatment not widely available – asthma patients receive bronchial thermoplasty. The procedure, usually administered over three outpatient visits, involves applying an electrode to the smooth muscle lining of the airways to reduce the thickness of the muscle, which in turn limits potential for airway constriction.

No matter the course of treatment, children should stay on their treatment schedule to keep asthma in check. Parents need to be involved day-to-day in making sure this happens – even to the point, if necessary, of keeping a written record of medication the child is taking and how well the child is doing following healthy routines.

Living an across-the-board healthy lifestyle – from diet and exercise, to proper rest, to providing ourselves sufficient time for recreation – supports bodies that are more resistant to asthma and allergies. Maintaining spaces free of dust, mold and other agitators is fundamental to successful management of asthma.

Our developing world is no friend to asthma sufferers. Consider how homes are constructed today: tightly sealed, with walls and floors made with pressed wood, carpets consisting of synthetic fibers, all promoting air polluted with particles that can bring on wheezing and full-blown asthma attacks. Whether you live in a new home or not, we suggest that every few days you open windows on opposite sides of the house for five minutes, and let the air circulate.

To help keep kids breathing easily, identify the right treatment and stick to it, foster a healthy lifestyle, and inhabit an environment in which materials and substances that bring on asthma symptoms are kept to a minimum.

Childhood Diabetes

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There are two primary types of diabetes – type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes used to be called "juvenile" diabetes because it typically develops in children and adolescents. With type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin, the hormone needed to convert food into the energy necessary to live. People with type 2 diabetes do not produce enough insulin, which is necessary for regulating and storing blood sugar and enabling the body to use that sugar for energy. Another variation of type 2 diabetes is that the body cannot use the insulin that’s produced.

The American Diabetes Association reports that among all those with diabetes in the country, up to 95 percent have type 2 diabetes, while the remaining roughly five percent have type 1 diabetes. The number of children being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes is on the rise, a troubling national trend "fueled largely by the obesity epidemic," according to the Mayo Clinic.

Not good news – but what is good news is that type 2 diabetes in children is largely preventable. Increased exercise and better eating habits result in fewer obese kids.

Kids should be on the move more. A 2009 study by the National Center for Safe Routes to School provides a telling statistic: Among children in kindergarten through 8th grade living within a mile of school, only about a third (35 percent) walked or biked to class – down from an overwhelming majority (89 percent) in 1969.

Children should be encouraged to participate in sports and other forms of exercise. Advocacy for physical education is important, especially because cash-strapped public school systems often resort to cutting these programs to save money.

As for food, we need to primarily eat unprocessed meats, vegetables, fruits and grains. In our ever-busier lives, it is too easy to purchase the prepared and processed and refined such as inexpensive fast food that tastes good and fills you up, but is also loaded with calories and unhealthy substances.

A rule of thumb for healthy eating: When preparing a meal, start with fresh and unprocessed ingredients and keep them as unprocessed and unadulterated through the preparation as possible.

Here’s a prescription for helping children be resistant to type 2 diabetes: Exercise more, eat better.

Moving Forward

Effectively treating childhood asthma, or any asthma, almost always requires medical involvement and medication. But there is also so much control we have over our home life and day-to-day living that can help keep symptoms at bay.

And on the type 2 diabetes front, if we support and encourage our kids to exercise more and eat healthier, we go a long way toward preventing the disease from ever showing up.

Steve Bernardi is a compounding pharmacist and Dr. Gary Kracoff is a registered pharmacist and a naturopathic doctor at Johnson Compounding and Wellness Center in Waltham, Mass. (www.naturalcompounder.com). Readers with questions about natural or homeopathic medicine, compounded medications, or health in general can e-mail steveandgary@naturalcompounder.com or call 781-893-3870.